CVE-2011-4090
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedSerendipity before 1.6 has an XSS issue in the karma plugin which may allow privilege escalation.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceSerendipity before version 1.6 contains a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in its karma plugin. This allows attackers to inject malicious scripts that execute in the context of other users' sessions, potentially leading to privilege escalation by stealing session credentials or performing administrative actions on behalf of authenticated users.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data< 1.6CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Serendipity versionLocate the version file or changelog in the Serendipity installation directory and read the version numberAffected if The installed version is below 1.6 (e.g., 1.5.x, 1.4.x, etc.)
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Verify karma plugin presenceCheck the plugins directory for the karma plugin files, typically located under include/plugin_api or plugins directory in the Serendipity installationAffected if The karma plugin files exist in the installation
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Confirm karma plugin is enabledCheck the Serendipity configuration or database for active plugins, look for the karma plugin in the enabled plugins listAffected if The karma plugin is enabled and active in the Serendipity configuration
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Check karma plugin versionIf version information is available within the karma plugin file or its metadata, read the version numberAffected if The karma plugin version is below the version bundled with Serendipity 1.6
You are affected if your Serendipity installation is any version below 1.6 AND the karma plugin is enabled.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor data1.6
Upgrade Serendipity to version 1.6 or later to obtain the patched karma plugin. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, disable the karma plugin until the upgrade can be completed.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-4090 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2011-4090 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data